An Ericsson mobile phone was used to make the call over Vodafone’s network of 30 base stations in the Thames Valley.
The 3G service is due to be launched by Vodafone in the second half of 2002. The company said that initial handsets will also work with its GRPS (General Packet Radio Service, known as 2.5G) network.
“Our announcement of the first 3G voice call marks yet another significant milestone in the development of our multimedia services and forms part of our rollout plans for 3G mobile,” said Gavin Darby, Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone UK. “We successfully launched our GPRS network on 2nd April which provides customers with faster data-speeds, ‘always on’ connectivity and greater cost effectiveness as we introduce billing based on quantity of data transferred rather than time ‘on-line’.”